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Monday, December 5, 2011

One of Many

Walking through Garfield Park yesterday was a complete shock. Our shady central oasis is considerably less shady, with at least six trees toppled, awaiting the chainsaw and wood chipper.

Yes, many of the park's trees still stand. (This one is fine.) For that, I am glad. But with each passing day, I find another landscape dramatically changed and it's starting to wear down my nerves. The tree in this picture crashed right on top of the picnic table where Little Bit and I loved to have after school snacks. It's unsettling and creepy and sad.

24 comments:

Maybe the next photo will be of twinkling holiday lights through your window, now that the power is back on. I don't know if I can bear to see another downed hero. I feel like I'm looking at war coverage. So sad.

it is sad to venture out after a large event and see the destruction outside of your little circle of life into the larger circle of life. Garfield has some wonderful trees that have been there longer than any of us chatting here.

I keep seeing the trees down and keep thinking of how to replant so many...when something popped up in an ad--Arbor Day is 27 April. By then, the toughest of the winter storms should be over and planting should be in full swing. Replant as many trees (or more) that came down. Maybe they won't be the grand trees we enjoyed during our lifetimes, but Little Bit's children should enjoy some great shade.

wv: shadelati...a latte in the shade, oh to hope Little Bit's kids and grandkids can enjoy a latte in the shade at Garfield

Been out of town a few days to go meet the new granddaughter. We got to see some of the damage in Pasadena and Glendale, but not South Pasadena. The closest thing I can recall was a horrendous windstorm about the same time of year about 15 years ago. Some areas lost power for days - I had it back in about a day and a half.

I've noticed a lot of criticism of SCE on Patch. Let me give my two cents worth. The utility companies cannot afford to have sufficient people to handle an emergency like this. You couldn't afford it. My ex-brother-in-law is retired from LA DWP. When they would have a major wind incident, everyone dropped their regular jobs and began repair work. They all worked 16 hour days until it was back to normal. When necessary, like now, they bring in crews from neighboring areas. That's what Edison and the other crews are doing. But, many areas of the State were hit hard, so the crews are stretched thin everywhere. That's little comfort to those who have no power, but if you get a chance, thank them for doing the best they can.

As for the non-native trees contributing to the problem, it should be noted that many native trees came down too. Sycamores and Oaks were hit hard. Some of the Eucalyptus and Pines have been here for generations. This is not a tree problem, but a wind problem combined with inadequate trimming and perhaps overwatering.

We get frequent power outages here and when it's 15 degrees outside, it's more critical to have heat. That's why I bought a portable generator that sits on the back porch.

Thanks, for your comments Laurie. Let me know how my favorite tree is doing. While the loss of trees is indeed sad, it's good to know no one was seriously injured. Looking at the damage to some houses, it's fortunate that no one died.

DBW - I agree. There have been a lot comments on Patch blaming SCE for everything people can think of, and it doesn't seem reasonable or fair.

Another problem with the trees is that many of them are in spaces (i.e. next to sidewalks) where the roots don't have enough room. Others are on lawns where they get too much water from the surface, and the roots don't go deep enough. On the other hand, we don't get 80-90 mph very often.

I agree that SCE was woefully inept at informing people about estimates. We couldn't get any info for 3 days, other than "currently no estimate." I think a lot of frustration could be alieviated by a better spokesperson out in front of cameras and giving updates every day. Then again, much of my background is advertising and PR.

I think of how Guiliani calmed the nerves of New Yorkers after 911. We can and will endure hardship if we feel like the people in charge actually care, are on the level with us and aren't just making excuses.

I also find it amusing that those who got power back quickly are praising SCE. Of course! It's all relative. 5 days in the cold and dark with rotten food? Can't expect people to be cheery.

I agree about the miracle that nobody died. Have talked to several with near misses. Almost like the Pagans were right and the spirit of trees protect us. :-)

Glad power is coming back for some. I find it ironic that the Altos power is mostly underground and yet, still had major issues. Decades ago we were told that power would be maintained easier because of the underground wiring. Guess restoring it isn't as easy as just stringing a new line...oh, wait, it really is.

Haven't read the Patch stuff, sounds like I'd rather steer clear. From reports I've heard, it sounds like info just isn't being conveyed to customers (well, let's see, no power, wonder how folks will get the info after days and days). I know there aren't 80-100mph winds often, and this incident was abnormal. However, it was NOT unexpected (we were warned 5 days in advance here in NorCal that this was coming), so unlike a quake, SCE could have called in personnel to be staged before the event, rather than, as it seems, waiting until afterwards and being so vastly overwhelmed, then taking days to get some crews in. Not knocking the crews for getting miracles done, am knocking the lack of preparedness and forethought---ironically, by the folks who warn you to be prepared. Not saying it is easy, but seems to be another expression of a weak link in SCE's preparedness.

btw, eucalyptus trees are not native to CA, despite how many of them we have. They are the bane of some folks existence, including power companies.

Neither SCE, nor anybody else, had any idea of what the extent of the damage would be. Yes, we knew there would be winds, but we had no idea tree would come down. If that was the case, we should have been warned to evacuate areas with tall trees.

It is not realistic for SCE to stage crews before they know what's going to happen and where. Even in hurricane country we don't know exactly where they will hit or how hard. There are certain things that are just going to happen, and we can prepare only so much.

Texas hurricanes and tornafoes have caused far more widespread power outages than this, as have east coast nor'easters and blizzards. Usually the power is restored more quickly with lots and lots of press presence by power company officials. SCE's website was not sufficient as MANY people do not have smart phones, including my elderly neighbor with cancer who asked me if I knew anything because there were no reports on the radio.

I applaud the efforts of all the SCE workers going full steam to fix problems but there was a live, arcing downed line on Columbia for 2 days. People should have been told what to do and not just by an interactive web map that mostly said "currently being determined."

Many people who fled to hotels would have appreciated more long view estimates to help plan how long to stay. Also, people like my elderly neighbor must be considered in emergencies, with outlets like KNX radio kept in the loop for power restoration estimates. Of course this was a big, unexpected mess. But I've seen storms far mor damaging in other places handled far better do I know there is room for vast improvement.

We know that we sit on the edge of a great earthquake here. Any utility company should have a better alert and information system in place in my opinion. I hope SCE will learn from this, just as we all have discovered that emergency preparedness is trickier than we thought.

Btw: I got a battery powered 300 Lumen lantern at OSH today. We found the darkness to be particularly daunting with most small lanterns and flashlights barely giving light. Since candles, oil lamps and torches are no-nos in wind and earthquake situations, it's nice to find a strong light source that runs on plain batteries and not a rechargeable that would be useless in another major power outage.

Also, ThinkGeek has solar cell phone chargers. If a car is damaged, we couldn't use it to plug on the iPhone.

I purchased a 3500 watt generator from Cabela's for $319. It sits on the back deck and is powerful enough to run the pellet stove (or FAU), a couple of lights and refrigerator. We haven't had to use it yet, but if we get a multi-day power outage in the middle of a blizzard, it will definitely be worth every bit of what I paid for it.

I agree, Laurie. The lack of information was ridiculous. I'm from Florida. I've seen thousands upon thousands of homes restored in a few days, with many crews from neighboring utilities pitching in and officials checking door to door. No excuse here. Sorry. We are earthquake country here.

Search Glimpses of South Pasadena

Laurie Allee

Writer. Photographer. Mom.

The History of Glimpses

In December of 2007, after many years on the west side of Los Angeles (and at least a third of those years spent stuck in traffic on Pico Boulevard) my family settled into a happy little house in South Pasadena. This daily blog covered over 4 years as I put down roots in my new home town. While I no longer blog every single day, I add new posts every week.

About This Blog

The thumbnail view:

For over 4 years, I presented a picture a day from South Pasadena, California -- an incorporated city within the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. All photos up to November, 2008 were taken with a Fujifilm Finepix E900 camera. I added a Fujifilm Finepix S2000HD megazoom in December 2008, a Nikon D3100 in 2010 and a Lumix DMC-DS8 in 2011. I shot with them all. In August 2010 I joined the iPhone camera craze and included pictures captured by my phone. I regularly cropped images and used basic editing software to adjust the brightness, intensify the contrast, and increase color saturation. Other than that, all images came straight from the camera with minimal alteration. (If I couldn't have done it in a darkroom, I wouldn't do it with a computer.)

In 2012 I took a break from the blog. I came back in 2016 and now post weekly with images from my Nikon, Lumix and iPhone 6.

The bigger picture:

Consider it a love letter to the place I call home.

You can click on any picture to see a larger version.

All photos and prose on this blog copyright Laurie Allee. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. (Plus, it's really uncool.)

LA: Other by Laurie Allee

LA:Other. Inside the City ... Outside the Box. Check out my LA Stories, Photos and Video.

Elsewhere...

May, 2016: Thanks to the dedicated group of you who have continued to email me about resurrecting Glimpses, I am back! Check weekly for new posts, and be sure to visit the brand new Glimpses of South Pasadena Community Forums and start a conversation.

July, 2014: It's been a long haitus but I'm ready to get back to my blogging roots! My new blog LA: Otheris officially launching in September. This blog will be very similar to Glimpses, but will include all of Southern California as a subject, not just my beloved back yard. I am also going to post a few video pieces as well as still photography, which will be cross posted on YouTube. (And, of course, there will be my usual commentary.) Also, as much as I loved daily blogging, I've got too much on my creative plate to keep it up at LA Other. Less is more, right?

Thank you Charlie's Coffee House for hosting my photo exhibit, South Pas: Observed. From October 2011 through January 2012 my pictures graced the walls of the best place in town to get a cup of coffee!

Read the nifty story on photo bloggers Petrea Burchard, Ben Wideman, Kat Likkel and little old me featured in the September, 2011 issue of Pasadena Magazine.

Great Books by Local Authors

Great Books by Local Authors

Great Books by Local Authors

Great Books by Local Bloggers

Novel lovers, look out! Everybody's favorite San Gabriel Valley daily photoblogger Petrea Burchard takes us on a journey back to King Arthur's 'hood in her wonderful debut novel Camelot and Vine. (If you don't fall madly in love with her smart-ass narrator, you definitely deserve to be put into an iron maiden.) Be sure to keep up with Petrea at her legendary blog, Pasadena Daily Photo, AKA: Living Vicuriously.

And while we're on the subject of great takes on old themes, be sure to pick up a copy of Margaret Finnegan's delightful debut novel, The Goddess Lounge -- undoubtedly the kookiest, most wonderful riff on Homer's Odyssey ever written. Margaret never ceases to inspire and make us laugh at her blog Finnegan Begin Again. Her book is magical, silly, smart and a wonderful love letter to the all the goddesses among us.

Kevin McCollister of East of West LA blows our minds with haunting images of Los Angeles. But since we can't put his blog on our coffee table, we can buy his fantastic book. I believe Kevin's images truly capture the quixotic and often heartbreaking soul of LA. Don't take my word for it, see what The LA Times had to say.